On this day honoring the life of Martin Luther King, Junior, I invite you to join me, to gather ourselves and gather together, to allow ourselves the rest and space to feel and to be… Given all we have been witnessing the past few months (and prior), let’s take time to rest and nourish, to consider what “solidarity” and “beloved community” mean…. to water the seeds of love and compassion within, to strengthen and steady ourselves for the ongoing road of personal and collective liberation that lays ahead. All are welcome. Pre-registratiojn is required. It’s online, 7:15-8am EST. It’s FREE.

Use this link to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdu2grzIvHdMuv_wxPR1UiYh8xalDK18z

As we usher in a new year, we are given an opportunity to slow down, reflect, and ask ourselves anew: How do I want to be in the world?

In the Buddhist tradition, one of the pāramitās (perfections, virtues) is generosity. Generosity (dāna) is much more than donating money or giving someone a thing of value. It is a way to cultivate seeds of compassion and wisdom, and one of the fruits of spiritual practice. It is thus both the path and the fruition, and it can bring about great joy.

In this half-day retreat, we’ll explore the Buddhist teachings on generosity, and consider for ourselves, creatively, imaginatively, how we might expand and deepen our understanding of it. We will practice sitting meditation, gentle movement, and contemplative journaling.  We will use this time to enter the year feeling rested, clear, inspired and enlivened.

Use the link below for details and to register for this New York Insight Meditation Center half-day retreat:

https://www.nyimc.org/event/new-years-retreat-liberating-joy-through-the-practice-of-generosity/

As we honor the winter solstice, join me to gather our hearts and minds and bodies and breaths… to gather and ground ourselves, to steady and source ourselves.. to support ourselves and each other for the ongoing work of staying true to our humanity, of remaining as the open-hearted, loving, compassionate beings that we are. How to stay open in the midst of such immense devastation? How to continue to bear witness and speak and act from a place of love in the face of such immense violence and cruelty? Let’s set an intention, and practice together, my friends.

We can do this.

Pre-registration is required. This is a FREE event online. Use the link below to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrdOGupzsvGtDFrPuHc82-Z1UAXuwCKrjO

Foot Overlooking Tears: An Embodied Journey Through the Poetry of Chinese Medicine

A 75 mins experiential session, as part of a day-long FREE summit hosted by The Embody Lab

As we approach the winter solstice, marking the symbolic death and rebirth of the sun, we are offered the reminder that we too can “die” and be “reborn,” that we too can release and start anew.

In this journey, participants will be guided through movements of the body, the breath, and the mind, inspired by the poetry of the points and the pathways of Chinese medicine.

This practice will support us in creating a more spacious inner environment in which our qi can flow more freely, we can listen more deeply, and open up to our experience more fully. As a support for healing and growth, we will practice emptying, nourishing, transforming, releasing, nurturing, letting be, and liberating our imaginations to seek and to sense ever deepening connections with ourselves and with our world.

Click on the following link for details and to register for this FREE event:

https://www.theembodylab.com/schedule/december-2023-summit

Join me to meditate together, steadying our hearts and minds and supporting each other in doing the same, as we bear witness to such catastrophic atrocities, and commit to keeping our hearts open and our actions rooted in fierce compassion and love.

Pre-registration is required for this FREE online event. 7:15am EST. Please us the link below to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvfuurqDkvHdDdEsIki3nft4TpDiVHeKS4

Join me for an evening of acupuncture and meditation, in community, as we support ourselves and each other in deep rest and restoration, and in keeping our hearts open, especially in the face of life’s great challenges.

But first - a poem:

The war will end. 

The leaders will shake hands. 

The old woman will keep waiting for her martyred son.

That girl will wait for her beloved husband. 

And those children will wait for their hero father. 

I don’t know who sold our homeland.

But I saw who paid the price.

- Mahmoud Darwish (Palestinian poet)

In 2001, on 9/11, the unthinkable happened here in the U.S.  Nearly 3000 innocent people were killed, thousands more were injured, and countless were traumatized by these attacks.  Many who survived have suffered long-term health effects.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, in the U.S.-led wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Pakistan, an estimated 432,092 civilians have been killed (as of September 2021).  As of May 2023, 3.6-3.8 million people have died indirectly, in post 9/11 war zones.  More than 7.6 million children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition in these war zones.  And over 38 million people have been displaced, become refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and Iran.  

~

I often think about the question "What is healing?  What does it mean to heal?"  Even after all these years, I do not have any well formulated, succinct definition.  It is an open and alive question for me....  (and, I'm curious what you think - please share!).

One of the things I have noticed is that in the face of suffering, even intense suffering, when I can keep my heart open - to my experience, whatever that may be, AND open to others - something happens.  Some kind of transformation.  A softening.  An opening.  And I wonder if that something, is a kind of healing. I wonder if that something is a mending of cracks, fissures, that keep us apart from each other, that keep us from accessing the boundless capacity of our hearts.

Join me on Monday, September 11th to gather together and allow our hearts-minds-bodies to feel, to remain open, to heal.  We will begin with an ear acupuncture protocol ("put your oxygen mask on yourself first"), and a guided meditation to soothe and settle.  We'll move into a compassion practice, connecting with the capacity of our hearts to remain open and loving - i.e., to be free.

Details: 

Monday, September 11th, 7pm-8:30pm EST (doors open 6:45pm)

One Circle Wellness Center

124 East 40th Street, Suite 704

New York, NY 10016

Registration is required, as space is limited.  E-mail mona@peopletreewellness.com and also text 917-834-2124 to register with your full name. This event is being offered as a fundraiser for those affected by the wildfires in Maui.  

Please send in proof (a screenshot or email confirmation sent to mona@peopletreewellness.com and also text to 917-834-2124) that you've made a donation to:

https://hawaiipeoplesfund.networkforgood.com/projects/200566-maui-aloha-the-people-s-response-fund - (minimum $25) - to secure your admission.  If you cannot attend and would still like to make a donation, please do so. Generosity helps to free the heart!